


Flashbacks

by KaiMikoledesMan



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stranger Things (TV 2016), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29507589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaiMikoledesMan/pseuds/KaiMikoledesMan
Summary: Kai remembers what his life was like before he lived in New York City.





	Flashbacks

**Author's Note:**

> ***The Ancient One is depicted as a genderless, non-binary being in this story. The Ancient One, along with the ancient languages spoken originally, have no gender or bias. This is to not only give respect to the non-binary community, but also keep the story somewhat congruent with both the Marvel comics and Marvel movies. There is no hint given to the assigned gender at birth for the Ancient One. They/them pronouns are used for the Ancient One.***

Kai looked around his studio apartment with bleary eyes. He had just woken up from what was supposed to be a full night's rest, but it was more like a nap. His sleep schedule was never consistent or satisfying by any means. It was Saturday.

And somehow, he was already bored, even though he had been conscious for less than 30 minutes, spending the entirety of the aforementioned time in bed.

Rolling over, he repositioned the one cat that was laying on him to the side of the bed. Kai took out his phone and scrolled social media for a few minutes, but ended up putting the phone down since it was always the same shit. He sighed.

There were times like this when Kai would miss his old life. Not his past lives, but his life before he ended up in New York City. He was glad that he was on his own now, but he couldn't help but think back to when he lived in the Himalayas, away from the noise and bustle of the city. Kai closed his eyes to do a morning meditation, but a few memories surfaced instead...

***

"What's your name?" An East-Asian boy stood in front of him, wearing the same off-white robes as the rest of their classmates. He had long, dark hair, golden-brown eyes, and dark skin that had gotten even darker in the sun over the years. Kai wasn't aware of his specific ethnicity, but from what his superiors had told him, he was the new prodigy from the East.

"Makeu Pyo," the boy said in a voice that was slightly lower than Kai's. "How come your eyes don't look like the rest of the students? I've never seen someone with-"

" _Makeu!_ " a voice Kai recognized as one of his teachers yelled from behind him. "Do not ask such questions! Kai is from the West. Have you ever seen anyone unlike you before?"

Makeu's dark cheeks suddenly flushed red. "I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it," he said, his voice cracking from the embarrassment. Kai turned around to see the teacher's face still very much upset and un-approving, but it was nothing he wasn't used to already. It was hard to please anyone at Kamar-Taj.

After the teacher walked away, Kai consoled Makeu. "Don't worry about them," he said. "They're always like that and very strict. You'll get used to it after a while."

"They better," Makeu said. "I came across my abilities quite by accident. Apparently being able to levitate things with your mind isn't normal!"

Kai chuckled. "Yeah, that's... that's a pretty rare one, that's for sure," he said. "I haven't been able to do that one."

Makeu leaned into him close, as if he was about to tell him a secret. "You haven't been able to do that one... yet," he said, winking at Kai. Kai smiled back in surprise - none of his other classmates had ever shown him kindness like that before. His teachers didn't even have that much faith in him.

Later in the day, after their studies were done and the last meal of the day had been eaten, Makeu and Kai were walking through one of the many gardens that were on the grounds of the area, talking.

"Watch this!" said Makeu.

Kai watched as Makeu grabbed a piece of bamboo that had fallen off its stock. He threw it into the air straight up as hard as he could, but before gravity could pull it back down to Earth, it stopped in mid-air. Kai's eyes lit up as he saw Makeu keeping it there with his arm over his head, the pointer finger extended out up to the sky. Makeu had a grin across his face that was wider than any smile Kai had seen since arriving at Kamar-Taj.

"That's incredible!" Kai said, utterly amazed at his capabilities. "How long have you been able to do this?"

Makeu levitated the piece of bamboo back to the earth slowly and grabbed it with his hand as he responded. "To be honest with you... I think I've always been able to do it."

"Really?" Kai asked.

"Yeah," Makeu replied. "I wasn't always aware of it, I think. But when I was younger, if I would get mad at something, sometimes things would start moving around the house. The people in my village always attributed it to evil spirits, but I quickly learned how to control it," he said.

Kai shrugged. "I mean, I get it. If I saw that for the first time and didn't know anything about it, I'd probably think something ridiculous like that, too," he said, laughing.

However, Makeu didn't return his energy. "Yeah, I guess," he said, trailing off.

Kai furrowed his brow. "Oh..." he said, realizing that something like that must have also made him an outcast in his village, especially if they didn't know anything about the ancient mystical arts. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that..."

Makeu shook his head. "No, no, don't worry about it," he said. "I uh... I learned to hide it really quickly, and so did my mom."

"I'm assuming the people of your village... they treated your family really bad, didn't they?" Kai asked.

Makeu looked away, his body language closing in. "They uh..." he began, "they ended up ex-communicating us. My family, a few years ago, we were forced to leave because of it. We were blamed for every hardship that our village saw. It... it wasn't our fault, though." Makeu looked as if he was on the verge of tears.

"I'm so sorry," Kai said, his heart welling up with the same pain of loss he had to cope with when he was abducted.

"But enough about me," Makeu said, suddenly snapping out of his melancholy emotions, "what about you? Where do you come from, and what's your family like?"

Kai froze, unable to form the words. He knew he would be exiled from Kamar-Taj if he told Makeu about how he was abducted; his kidnappers were very clear about that when he was brought in. Not to mention, things like time-travel were one of the incredibly secret arts, even within their sacred practices.

"Uh... I was... I used to be..." Kai stammered.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Makeu said. "I know that pasts can be hard."

"Y-yeah," Kai said. They are."

It was a few months later, and Makeu had mostly settled into the flow of things. They were again in the garden.

"I can't _stand_ him!" Makeu exclaimed. "If you do _anything_ wrong, like just one thing, he makes you start the sequence over. Ugh, it's so frustrating!"

"Yeah, I know," Kai said, agreeing yet consoling him. "Mandalas are hard. But, they're not just for show or to look pretty. Some more advanced practices require 100% accuracy. Because, if you don't..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Makeu said. "You could fuck up reality or whatever." He rolled his eyes. "I basically taught myself telekinesis, and I haven't fucked anything up yet. Honestly, a lot of what they say and teach doesn't even... make sense or seem real."

Kai looked away, trying to hide his face, knowing that Makeu was unaware of the true power that these practices could yield. "Yeah, it's... complicated," he said.

Makeu gave him a quizzical look, raising one single eyebrow. "Complicated? How?"

Kai winced, knowing he had already said too much. He looked down, exhaling sharply. _Fuck it_ , he thought.

"Makeu... I need to tell you something," Kai said quietly.

Makeu gave him a worried look. "What is it?"

Kai looked away, breathed in slowly, and sighed before continuing. "So... you know how the Ancient One is always telling us of deeper levels of understanding and power? And how there's way more possible within our universe than we've ever been led to believe?"

"Yeah..." Makeu said, with an incredibly unsure tone.

"I'm... I haven't told you about my past because..."

"Because...?"

"Because I'm from the past," Kai said.

Makeu looked at him, completely confused. He blinked a few times, trying to understand. "I mean, technically, we're all from the past, so -"

"No, not like that. I mean... a long, long time ago. Before the Library of Alexandria was destroyed. Before Kamar-Taj as we know it existed. Before the fall of Rome happened."

"Whoa," Makeu said, almost whispering. "So you age slowly like the Ancient One? Are you immortal like they are?"

"No, no, not like that," Kai said. "I age normally. But... there's things that our masters and teachers can do that..."

"Kai," Makeu said, "what are you trying to tell me?"

"Please... don't tell anyone. It could be bad for me. For you. For... us."

"Spit it out already!" Makeu said loudly.

Kai shushed him. "Shut up, they'll hear you!" Kai said with hushed intensity. Makeu rolled his eyes.

"Makeu... Listen to me," Kai began softly, "there's things that our masters can do that they don't tell us about. Things that... are terrifying. When we reach adult age and we receive a personal mentor, there's... sometimes things they teach students that they don't teach others. And the students are made to promise to never, ever share the secrets with anyone else... not even another student."

Makeu nodded along, his face still hosting an incredibly and increasingly concerning look.

Kai continued. "I grew up in Greece. Ancient Greece. I'm not sure how long ago compared to present-day in the here and now, but..."

"Wait, let me get this straight," Makeu interjected. "You can _time-travel?!_ " he said, whispering loudly.

Kai shook his head. "No, I can't," he said. "But _they_ can."

Makeu looked at Kai as if he were insane. "What?!"

Kai shushed him again, since Makeu made no effort to lower his voice that time. "It's... something they're thinking about teaching me. You know how I'm not as good with things like what you are? I've only ever been able to move a small rock only a fraction of the distance -"

"They... I can't believe this!" Makeu said, only a few levels quieter than he spoke last. "There's abilities that they haven't even _told_ us about?!"

"Makeu, please, listen to me," Kai said, trying to get him to calm down. "I... I didn't come here willingly."

"What in the hell do you mean? I'm so confused -"

"Hey!" Kai said, raising his voice to match his intensity this time. "Do you want to hear this or not?"

Makeu sighed. "Sorry," he said. "I'll shut up and listen."

"Thank you," Kai said. He took a few seconds to regain his composure before continuing.

"Hundreds of years ago, in my home country, I was raised on the island of Crete and surrounding areas. My people erected beautiful statues to our gods - my family was mainly involved in the Cult of Apollo and the Muses. My specific family was involved in the military, so we never stayed in one place for too long, but as I came of age, the healers and oracles of my time realized I had a gift... I had potential. So they started training me in the mystical, Grecian arts. A lot of what they taught me was not unlike what we learn here, today. However, there are some differences..."

Makeu listened intently, his eyes never breaking from Kai's face.

Kai shook his face before continuing, trying not to get sidetracked. "Anyways, I had just turned 13, and it was time for my initiation rites. Times were different back then, and according to the rites, I had to enter an altered state before receiving my blessing from the Oracle at Delphi. So that means... that I had to..."

"I think I know what you mean," Makeu said. "Did they give you rice-grain alcohol?"

"They did give me alcohol, but my people used grapes to make it," Kai said. "I've never had rice-grain alcohol before, but I'm sure it's similar."

"That's crazy," Makeu said. "Even outside the Kamar-Taj, where they preach sobriety, most people in the East don't ever give children alcohol. Always ends badly."

Kai felt his body begin to tense up as he remembered that fateful day long ago, but continued telling the story. "So after I had ingested two glasses of wine, I had felt relaxed in the moment. I didn't have a care in the world. I was excited, even, to go visit the Oracle. She was highly revered with my people, and very respected. In a way, she reminded me of the Ancient One, but still very different. Anyways... it had finally come time for me to enter the main chamber. Something about the land was sacred, from what I had learned. Even the average citizen, upon stepping into the building, would report seeing visions like a Seer. After they would leave the chamber and the Oracle, they would be in a state of bliss for days."

Makeu shook his head. "Dang, man. What kind of magic mumbo-jumbo did your people practice?" he said, giggling a little bit.

Kai looked at him with a blank stare, clearly not impressed.

"Sorry... continue," Makeu said, clearing his throat.

Kai rolled his eyes and kept going. "My mentor had told me I would feel the energy before even reaching the main chamber, and by this point, I was pretty far gone. I wasn't used to being drunk, and with our ritual dances I had done before drinking it, I was in an ethereal headspace. I felt invincible. I felt like I could zap actual lightning bolts from my fingertips like Zeus himself if I tried hard enough. I was seeing full on visions of the past of what our people had been, but also the future of what we would be - a strong, powerful, loving people. I had never felt anything like it in my life... and I doubt I will ever feel anything like it ever again."

"Wow..." Makeu said quietly.

"I entered the chamber, and the Oracle greeted me by my full name: Kairos Mikoledes. As I entered, I saw... colors in the air. I don't know how to describe it. It's as if I was seeing the energy in the air in its natural state... as she spoke, I saw the shape of her sound echo throughout the chamber. When I looked at my physical body, I saw what I can only describe as my own aura. She first told me that the name 'Kairos' meant 'opportune time, the time for action, peace, and unity.' And then she explained the history of my family and my surname, most of which I already knew, but coming from her, it was purely magical. Mikoledes was a name that was connected to Apollo, meaning 'light' and 'strength,' but it also had a connection to the sacred arts, such as singing, dancing, and epic poetry. My mentors had trained me to be a sacred healer of the battlefield, so it makes sense as to why I was named the way I was. Everyone in my community, from birth, had told me that I would amount to great things - the Oracle had received a message on the night of my birth that I would stop the apocalypse and save the world."

"That's... beautiful, actually," Makeu said, smiling in awe.

"Thank you. I don't like going by Kairos, though. I just go by Kai... it was easier for my masters to pronounce when I came here. But anyways... it came time for her to summon the Muses' spirits for guidance and inspiration. But, as she started throwing the different herbs and bones into the ritual fire, we heard an explosion. At first, I was too far gone to realize what was happening, and I assumed it was something she threw into the fire to make that noise, like it was a part of the showmanship or something. But then, I felt two pairs of arms grab me from behind."

"What happened then?" Makeu said, now fully immersed in what Kai was relaying to him.

"I started struggling after a few seconds when I realized I was being dragged away from the chamber. The Oracle started screaming at them to put me down, grabbing her knife that was only supposed to be used in rituals as a weapon to fend them off. But as she started charging towards them, one of them using their own abilities to throw the knife out of her hand from across the room. She yelled at them again, trying to invoke Apollo, Zeus, or anyone to come down and save us. But no such thing happened."

Makeu shook his head with disbelief, unsure of what to say.

"The Oracle herself, to my knowledge, was sober, but nothing she did could fight them off. I had no idea how these bandits had gotten into the chamber to steal me, but I later learned that they had done it through teleporting through time. No one heard our struggle from outside of the chamber until it was too late, because the chamber doors were sealed completely for privacy. The last thing I remember before we jumped was her face, fighting for my life. I'll never forget the shock and wild rage that came from her eyes as it faded away, my body being held against my will by these two men whose faces I didn't even see until I reached the other side. I didn't even know that we had traveled through time until they explained everything to me when I woke up. I think I passed out from the terror, or maybe my body passed out from the shock of being forced to do high-level time-travel for the first time, I'm not sure. Those first few days here at Kamar-Taj were a blur, I only remember the terrible nightmares I had for weeks after."

"Now, hang on just a minute," Makeu said, "are you here to tell me that these... bandits fucking kidnapped you to bring you here just so that THEY could teach you?!" His voice started raising again, and his cheeks started to get red with anger.

"Makeu, they told me I would have died otherwise," Kai said. "Most of our people were wiped out by sickness and war that would have happened during my lifetime if I would have stayed -"

"So?!" Makeu interrupted. "Says who? Who knows what would have happened if they didn't interfere like that? I'm... I can't believe this..."

"Makeu, there's nothing we can do about it now," Kai said. "Even if we forced them to return me, I would just run into my past self and create time paradoxes. I wish it wouldn't have happened, either, but -"

"No," Makeu said, interjecting again, "but we can fix it."

Kai furrowed his brows. "What? How do you..."

But before Kai could finish, Makeu had turned around and began sprinting towards the main grounds of the school.

"Makeu, wait! Stop!" Kai said, beginning to run after him. "Please, don't tell anybody!" he said, cursing under his breath.

"My family traveled across the East for me to learn the ancient secrets!" he yelled, "And now I'm learning that they're fucking child abductors? They're always teaching us to deny our ego and not be selfish, but stealing an actual human being is the most messed up thing I have ever heard in my entire life and all lifetimes before it!"

"Shit, fucking shit, why did I tell him? I'm such a fucking idiot!" Kai said to himself, breathing hard from trying to keep up with Makeu's incredible speed.

"I'm going to avenge you, Kai!"

They reached the top of the hill where all the main buildings were, and Kai stopped. He didn't want anyone to see him, and he knew whatever Makeu was about to do would most likely get him ex-communicated, if not the both of them expelled. Kai hid behind a row of bamboo but decided to peek through the gaps to see what Makeu was about to do.

"Which one of you motherfuckers wants to tell me where Kai _REALLY_ came from?" Makeu yelled, his low voice booming throughout the courtyards.

" _Excuse me?!_ " Kai heard one of the masters say.

"You heard me, shit-head!" Makeu said. "Which one of you people was going to tell me that you fucking STOLE HIM FROM THE PAST, _FROM HIS OWN PEOPLE_ NO LESS???"

"MAKEU! I do NOT know what has gotten into you, but if you do not stop this instant -"

Before the master could finish, Kai saw him throw the master against the nearest wall at a terrifying speed with his telekinesis. _Holy shit_ , Kai thought. _I didn't know he could do that_.

Other students, upon hearing the commotion, began to slowly emerge outside into the courtyard area. The master that was thrown against the wall was now laid on the ground in an incredibly unnatural position, seemingly lifeless. Other masters began to join the scene, asking any witnesses what had happened.

"It was Makeu!" Kai heard a student say. "He threw Pyong-Lang against the wall!"

Kai felt every sweat pore from his body open up with the rush of adrenaline that was now coursing through his veins.

Before the masters could take action against him, Makeu began shouting again. "Which one of you stole Kai from his ancestors? Huh? Which one of you want to explain what's really going on here at this institution of learning?"

Three masters began advancing towards him, but before they could subdue him, Makeu threw them into the air with incredible swiftness. The masters weren't phased, however; instead, they began creating their own mandalas of defense against him. Kai saw Makeu begin to struggle trying to keep them in the air, but the masters were more skilled. Blood began to pour from both nostrils as he put all of his might into his anger and rage - something the masters taught you should never do, should you block one of your chakras and therefore blocking the flow of chi itself. Kai flinched as he realized what physical damage Makeu could do to his brain alone from all of the stress.

The students began making noises of terror and awe - some of them were cheering Makeu on while others were begging for him to stop. Some of them simply screamed at the sight of it all, and Kai was unsure of their own emotions as he watched in absolute horror at the scene unfolding in front of him. He was frozen from all of the different emotions and feelings welling up inside of him from the carnage.

Suddenly, Kai saw the Ancient One appear from seemingly nowhere. Makeu also noticed the Ancient One, and in his one moment of focusing on them and not the other masters gave the masters just enough window of time to subdue him with golden ropes on every appendage, including one around the crown of his head. Makeu was now completely immobilized.

"No..." Kai whispered to himself. He knew that he would probably never see Makeu again after this.

Kai started running towards the garden away from the commotion. He didn't want to see what they would do to him, and he didn't want to be liable for his actions, either.

After some time, the sun had gone down, and Kai was alone in the garden. He was crying, silently, to himself, trying as best as he could to not bring any attention to himself.

_He's gone forever_ , he thought to himself. _They probably sent him out on his own in the wild, or found a way to teleport him back to his family, if his family is even alive at this point_...

"Kai, why are you sad?"

Kai jumped at the voice, clearly startled, but he quickly recognized it as the Ancient One's.

"I'm... nothing," he said, quickly wiping the tears away from his face. "I'm fine."

"Kai, you know better than to lie to me," the Ancient one said, calmly, obviously not upset. "You can tell me what's on your mind."

Kai shook his head as he tried to hide his own sniffling. The Ancient One simply looked at him with an empathetic gaze.

"I just..." he began, trying to find the words. "I liked Makeu. I didn't say anything to him about the -"

"We cannot change parts of the past," they said, cutting Kai off. "We have already talked about this."

"I know," Kai said, looking down.

"And although I do not approve of the methods the bandits used to take you to the here and now, you have to understand that you cannot control the actions of others, or their reactions to what you might tell them."

Kai nodded, knowing that the Ancient One was smart enough to know Kai well enough that he was clearly lying.

"I am not upset at you for telling Makeu what happened in your past, Kai," they said. "I will deal with this matter privately, and you do not have to worry about the consequences of Makeu's actions. He reacted out of anger and only hurt himself with these actions. You understand this, yes?"

Kai nodded, beginning to cry even more. "Where will you send him?" he asked.

The Ancient One breathed in slowly, exhaling slowly with a disappointed sigh before continuing. "I do not know. However, he cannot stay here with the damage he has already done. But we will try to help him to the best of our ability. That's all we can do at this point, right?"

"I guess," Kai said.

"I will allow you to say goodbye to him if you wish, before we decide what happens to him," the Ancient One said.

***

But he never got the chance to say goodbye, and he was never given a reason as to why.

Kai fought back tears in his flat as he came back to the present, reliving his past traumas so strongly in every part of his body. He tried to relax his body as best as he could, but no amount of breathing exercises were helping him calm down. Kai jumped out of bed, grabbed one of his pre-rolls that he had saved for occasions such as this with a lighter, and went to his fire-escape to smoke.

As Kai finished the joint in the crisp, autumn air, he looked upon the city with disdain. He wished that things could have been done differently. He wished that things could have been said differently. Kai wished more than anything that he was never tricked by Loki, and that he could finally find somewhere to call home. Kai was just a rogue of time itself; he never stayed anywhere for too long, whether it be of his own choosing or out of necessity. Using the sling ring to go back in time and find Makeu was a lost cause - he would cause too many ripples in time for it to be worth it.

Wherever Makeu was, whenever he was, Kai hoped more than anything that he was safe, loved, and at peace.

But sometimes, life with all its possibilities, timelines, and universes just simply isn't that fair.


End file.
